Dublin City Council have moved a step closer to the construction of the Royal Canal Premium Cycle Route - Phase 2 by issuing a tender for a Ground Investigation Contract. The tender, that has appeared on mytenders.ie, is for the provision of ground investigation work, ground investigation services and site-investigation services.

This cycle route will complete the capital’s section of the proposed national cycle route from Dublin to Galway, which will be Ireland’s contribution to the EuroVelo Route 2 extending across Europe to Russia.

In Dublin city a section of just 350m from Guild Street to Sheriff Street where the canal meets the Liffey, has been completed, and in Fingal a 2km section from Ashtown to the 12th lock in Castleknock opened last year.

The new 7km path will bridge the gap between these two sections. The two-way path will start on the left bank of the canal at Sheriff Street lifting bridge and will stay on this side until just after Binns Bridge in Drumcondra, at the junction of Whitworth Road and Dorset Street, where a new bridge will be built to take cyclists to the other side of the canal.

This is a real welcome move especially at a time when the latest section of the Dublin Galway greenway is due to be officially in Westmeath this coming Saturday.